


It gets worse before it gets better

by PumpkinGlitch



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Feeblemind Spell, Sort Of, dragon boy hamid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22104883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinGlitch/pseuds/PumpkinGlitch
Summary: Sometimes Cel throws a potion they shouldn't have.Typical Dragon Hamid shenanigans ensue
Relationships: Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan & Everyone
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

Hamid poured his last spell into the opposing wizard and wished with all his might that it would be enough. Everyone was exhausted, thankfully no one was down but it was a near thing, and Hamid wished Sasha and Grizzop were here. With all of them the fight certainly would've been going faster, Hamid had found himself looking to the shadows for a figure he knew he wouldn't have been able to see if she had been here and he kept automatically giving someone (Grizzop) line of sight on the wizard, moving out of the way of someone who wasn't even behind him. Zolf and Cel had looked at him weird but Azu had nodded in sympathy. It was after all the first battle either of them had done without the two of them. The wizard they were fighting was an unknown, someone who wasn't supposed to be there (like them) and had an irritating ability to reflect attacks back at them. Hamid was just about to duck behind a box to get out-of-the-way when he heard Cel muttering to themselves. "Well I don't know for sure what the green stuff will do with the red stuff but it probably wont be good for him and its all I've got left so here going!" They quickly dumped one of their many vials into another one and as it started to fizz and react, hurled it at their foe. Hamid watched in fascination as the mixture popped and exploded halfway there and turned into a beam that looked almost spell-like. The wizard made a face, clearly panicking and made the motion Hamid was dreading, flinging the thing? Spell? away from themselves. It hurtled towards Azu and Hamid's instincts kicked in _**nononoprotectprotectprotect**_ and suddenly he was in front of Azu, and then it all went dark.

Hamid came to and curled in on himself, the voices around were so loud! He huffed out a growl and to his pleasure the frantic talking stopped, for ten whole seconds . He let out a snarl of protest when he was picked up and it took a good inhale to remember _**AzuBigstrongfamilytears**_ scrabbling in her arms till he was pressed up against her armor. He let out an outraged little huff when he realized she didn't smell like him anymore. She was his Azu! How rude of someone to cover that up! he settled in by her neck and got to work re-scent marking her.

Azu had frozen in terror when Hamid had taken the spell for her, she couldn't lose more friends, she just couldn't. When Hamid had just dropped she had screamed and the wizard was a bloody mess when she was done with him. Hamid was still breathing, but the spell had done something weird to his body. As opposed to looking a little dragon-y but mostly Hamid, he now looked very dragon-y. Scales covered his whole body, and he had somehow lost his clothes, except his boxers thank the gods, he also now had claws on his hands and feet and a tail. Azu reached down and poured healing energy into him, not daring to move him till he was awake. Zolf and Cel looked bewildered and upset standing above her. Zolf was explaining to Cel that Hamid was descended from a meritocrat but he didn't know what this was and Cel was explaining that they didn't really know what they'd thrown at the wizard. Azu barely heard any of it she was just staring at Hamid, hand still on his back, making sure he was still breathing. The voices escalated around her and she was just about to yell at them to shut up, or something when Hamid moved. Just curled tighter on himself and let out at a little growl but that was enough for Azu to hiss out a breath she didn't know she was holding Zolf and Cel stopped arguing as Hamid's eyes opened. They were glowing, but still Hamid and Azu scooped him up before she could stop herself and he scraped at her arms and hands in clear panic before inhaling deeply and going still. "Hamid? Are you ok little buddy?" Cel is the first to speak but doesn't get an answer except a frankly adorable huff and Hamid clawing his way up her armor like some sort of weird cat. He clung up by her neck like the weirdest koala imaginable and Azu nearly cried. She held him tight to her and thanked Aphrodite that another one of her family hadn't been taken from her. That Hamid was alive, if a little weird and wrong. "we have to get him back home " Zolf says, still staring wide-eyed at Hamid. Azu nodded and attempted to move her head away from Hamid's a little because honestly the rubbing was a little weird. Zolf notices the motion but doesn't say anything while Cel notices and does. "what's he doing?" they sound like he's an experiment gone awry or a toddler behaving oddly and Azu isn't sure what is worse. "he seems to be rubbing his face on my neck" Azu half mutters and Cel nods sagely, like that makes sense, "like a cat." They say and Azu hikes Hamid further up on herself, straightening. "Hamid's not an animal." she says because it's all she can say, because maybe he is but that doesn't mean this virtual stranger can comment on it.


	2. Chapter 2

They get almost all the way to the tunnel before Hamid decides he's done being carried by Azu and wiggles uncomfortably and scrapes and slides his way to the ground. He walks on all fours over to Cel, and seems like he's sniffing at their boots, cel offers a hand to sniff, like Hamid is a unfamiliar dog, Hamid sniffs. And sneezes, a little jet of flame, hardly more that a candle shoots out. It's quite frankly adorable. Hamid does not claw his way up Cel like he did to Azu and seems content to follow them until they catch up to Zolf, waiting at the entrance to the tunnel. Hamid doesn't sniff him, instead opting to just, leap onto Zolf's back almost knocking him to the floor. He digs in if Zolf's shouting can count for anything, he overbalanced Zolf much more that he did Azu but settles in to apparently ride the rest of the way home there. They get three steps in before Zolf is swearing again and batting at what he can reach of Hamid. "Cut that out!" he finally shouts causing Hamid to stop whatever he was doing that bothered Zolf so much that he'd turn bright red over and settles his head on Zolf's shoulder with a little chirp. 

Hamid finishes marking Azu's neck, content that all others would know to stay away from his Azu, and that she would know she was protected and loved by him. Hamid sniffs the air and looks for the rest of his hoard. He sees an unknown, maybe **quietsharpcoldfamilysasha**? and gracefully releases His Azu from his grip and trots over to them. He knows immediately that this is not his Sasha but does some cursory sniffs, just to be sure. They offer their hand and the smell gets stronger **_smokesparksfastCel_**. Not one of his, and their smell makes him sneeze anyway. He might come back to this one after he finds the rest. They really shouldn't run off like that! When he sees _**saltysweetfamilyleaderZolf**_ he gets so excited he jumps on his back Zolf was back! his Zolf was back! he missed him so much! He hears Zolf talking and he purrs a noise of contentment nestling his nose up to his Zolf's neck. He'd been gone too long, he hardly smelled like Zolf anymore. Hamid licked the back of his Zolf's neck a few times, really get the scent in there so he would know not to leave Hamid again. How could Hamid protect him if he leaves? He feels his Zolf swat at him and decides he smells enough like Hamid that he can stop licking him and settles in on his Zolf's shoulder to wait until they get home. He's sure the rest must be there.


	3. Chapter 3

He falls asleep like that and wakes to someone trying to pull him off his zolf! Hamid hisses and lashes out blindly before opening his eyes. He sees someone he recognizes holding his hand away from Hamid, blood dripping from it and Hamid lets out a note of apology as he recognizes _**funnyfamilyjumpyOscar**_. He detaches from his Zolf's back and climbs into his Oscar's lap still rumbling apologies but lets out a distressed whine when he realizes that even Oscar doesn't smell like him! Someone else better not have claimed his! He gently headbutts Oscars chest and firmly sets to work getting his scent all over him. Rubbing against hands when offered but eventually attempting to burrow under his Oscar's shirt to get at the heart of the matter. 

When Hamid falls asleep on the way back Zolf rolls his eyes. He snores in this form too and it is whistling against Zolf's ear. He hopes Wilde will know whats wrong with him, or at least who to call to see whats wrong with him. Azu had already healed him but it hadn't helped. He hoped Hamid wouldn't be stuck like this for long. The walk back was long, and quiet, Cel kept opening their mouth to say something to him but Azu conveniently kept stepping in the way. Apparently not in the mood for conversation, or maybe she had a thing against Cel, which seemed a bit unfair. They spent the whole trip back in darkness and quiet worry. When they emerged Zolf couldn't help but hear Azu's sigh of relief and quirked an eyebrow at her. "I do not like small spaces." she explained as they trudged towards the inn. Cel muttered a half sentence about trying to find something to help and scattered back to their village And Azu and Zolf made their way back in relative silence, until Azu broke it. Until that moment Zolf hadn't realized that she'd been staring at Hamid, still curled on Zolf's back. "I don't think I've ever seen him so unworried, isn't that strange?" she asked, looking at him a bit wistfully. "I haven't got a good look at him much at all other than when he was around your neck. But yeah its-uh- weird seeing him uncaring." He replied craning his neck to try to get a better look at the halfling-dragon. They went straight to Wilde's office when they got to the inn, Zolf knocking just once before opening the door. "Wilde we have a problem." 

Wild had started from his half asleep position behind his desk, Zolf doubted he'd been sleeping again and this probably wouldn't help but. "Hamid was hit with some sort of spell, a greenish brown color and now he's, uh, weird? like very dragonish?" Zolf explained as he put his back to Wilde to show him. Wilde peered closely at the sleeping Hamid before reaching out to dislodge him from Zolf's back to get a better look. There was a loud hiss first from Hamid, then from Wilde, Zolf half turned to see Wilde, hand bloodied staring hard at Hamid, who for his part, slinked off Zolf's back and hopped into Wilde's lap. He was, growling? And Wilde kept absolutely still hands up and away, but it seemed like whatever that was had passed as he started to snuffled into Wilde's shirt, nuzzling into Wilde's hand when he tentatively brought to his face. "Okay, so, I think something similar happened before, in Prague? Curie had someone fix it, i believe." He looked at Azu for confirmation but she just shrugged and said "I joined up in Cairo" "Right, OK, so I'll get a message to curie that Hamid's gone a bit weird? If you could take him with you that'd be-" he stopped as Hamid appeared to be trying to pull his shirt off. "Do you mind? I'm trying to help you here" he muttered crossly, holding down the edge of his shirt to Hamid's apparent concern. Hamid sat up, almost straddling Wilde, to Wilde's discomfort, and leaned in, looking as if he might whisper something to him. Wilde leaned in too as Zolf shout of "wait!" came a bit too late as Hamid licked a wet stripe down his neck. Wilde spluttered and pushed Hamid off his lap, Hamid seemed annoyed but did not attempt to get back on Wilde's lap. simply trotting over to the door. Azu scooped him up and headed out. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hamid was distressed, sure he had part of his horde here but we was missing two! He couldn't find **his** Sasha or **his** Grizzop anywhere! Had they left him? Decided that they didn't want his help or protection? **His** Azu had noticed his distress and had taken to carrying him around, which he didn't mind much, he was up high, where he belonged. It seemed to upset **his** Zolf when he went on the roof of the home, and he didn't want to lose more of his, so he stayed off. It was one such day that came about that Hamid was above the door of the home, keeping a lookout, not high enough to worry **his** Zolf but higher up than being perched on Azu's shoulders, that he spotted someone coming up the road. Now Hamid was fiercely protective of who he had left so he growled, low and menacing before he recognized **_smokesparksfastCel_** and lept down on top of them when they approached. They let out a few curses and tried to pull him off them, before Hamid dug his claws in and rumbled next to their ears. He draped himself around their shoulders like an overgrown cat as they chattered away about something non important. They started to head inside and Hamid was loath to abandon his lookout but he had decided to claim Cel as his Cel, and was not done scenting them yet. They went inside and gathered everyone to Hamid's pleasure. He did so like seeing all **his** together. When they were back outside he was less pleased, there were dangers out here! He grumbled unhappily about the unnecessary risk they all were taking and became even more unhappy when Cel gently but firmly removed him from their shoulder and set him on the ground. They were risking themselves and he didn't have a good view of the area. He didn't like that at all, and expressed his displeasure by spitting a little fire and growling. Cel was trying to hand him something, and a memory of downing health potions crossed his mind briefly. He extended his claw and grabbed the open bottle from them, sniffling it delicately. It didn't smell like a health potion, but he trusted **his** not to hurt him and he pulled it to his mouth and drank it. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, and he saw the surrounding people slump their shoulders and start chattering in distress, but that's all his saw as his vision went white and his world became agony. 


	5. Ready for the worse?

Hamid was screaming, a horrible mix of animalistic screeches and almost people like screams. The group watched on in shock, all turning to Cel and talking all at once. "whats happening?" "Something went wrong!" "we've got to help him he's dying!" Their voices getting louder and louder over the screams. Then Hamid began to grow, slow at first then faster and faster and more grotesque. When he finally stopped, he stopped screaming as well. Just breathing heavily. He was enormous, with a head the size of Azu's torso and claws the size of her hands, whereas his claws before had been minor irritants, now they could easily gut a man. He slowly got to his feet, standing on all fours he was easily 8 feet tall. Wilde, Cel, and Zolf all stepped away in fear, they hoped he was still in there but it was a distant thing. Azu stepped forward, almost touching his shoulder, she had to reach up to do so. "Hamid? Are you hurt? do you need me to heal you?" her voice was echoing in the silence after Hamid's screams. He took a deep, shuddering breath and opened his eyes to look at her. He didn't answer her, but did lean hi enormous head in towards her chest and took a deep breath, sniffing. Azu reached a tentative hand up and cast lay on hands on him and they all saw some of the tension leave him. He stretched out enormous wings and for a second the fear rushed back in all of them, was he about to take off? Would he leave, not knowing who they were or that they were trying to help him? But it seemed his was just taking stock of his limbs, stretching out each one, one by one, even opening his mouth and stretching out his jaw, exposing sharp, deadly looking fangs and a long pink tongue. 


	6. Worse

That had, hurt, why had Cel given him something that would hurt? He realized suddenly that he could think a bit more clearly, not the panicky scramble of before. He rose gracefully, taking stock of each of is limbs, before opening his eyes. He could see that he now stood taller than Azu, that was good. All the better to protect his horde. He also could tell Azu was talking to him, but the pain was still to strong for him to concentrate clearly and he leaned his head into her and sighed, hoping she'd take the hint and make it hurt a it less. He felt the cooling magic wash over him like a wave and he immediately relaxed. It still hurt a it but not as bad as before, and he wanted her to have her magic in case they were attacked, he would protect them of course, but sometimes minor irritants got in the way and he'd like her help to heal with that. He spread his wings, stretching them out. He debated for a few moments whether to get an aerial view, to make sure they weren't in any danger, but he saw the darkening sky and knew it wouldn't be a good enough view. He stretched his sore muscles and gave a big yawn. He could sense dragons a long ways off, in the distance, but he figured his small self had made a pretty good choice out here. He took stock of his horde and his alarm spiked though. He remembered, distantly, that when he was small he had been fairly distressed about this, but now that he was bigger? and his emotions were bigger too? Sasha and Grizzop where were they? If he could sense other dragons on the other side of the world, then he should be able to sense two of his horde, out there somewhere. But they just weren't here! He let out a high chirp, not unlike a mother dragon searching for her babies. He spun around to face a different direction. There! Faint, but there, he could sense them, like they were farther away than the other side of the world. 


	7. Did I mention this gets weird?

Azu saw Hamid getting more and more worked up, spinning around, almost knocking Wilde off his feet and letting out a high chirping noise. Azu struggled to get his attention for a few minutes as he looked panicked around. It was finally Zolf who got his attention. "Hamid! Relax, just breathe, are you hurt? What's the matter?" Hamid shook his head, then his whole body in seeming agitation before attempting to speak. "SAshaa, Grizzzop?" Azu let out a sound of ditress and got his attention, finally. "Hamid, oh don't you remember? With Eldarion? The spell? We lost them Hamid, we lost Sasha and Grizzop." Her tone was one of deep sadness and so she missed Cel's alarmed face. They knew that you don't tell dragons that something is lost. That this would likely send Hamid into a panic.   
Hamid remembered now, vague shapes, a spell that had turned the world wrong. Landing without Eldarion, Sasha or Grizzop. He began to pace in a tight line, tension in him building magic powerfully. Two of his horde were missing and it was all that woman's fault! He needed them here like an ache in his chest. A void that would never be filled without them present, and he wanted that woman to pay. For a few minutes Hamid saw red, for a few minutes Hamid thought of nothing but getting those three back. Two because he needed them here and the third to rip her to shreds for daring to take from a dragons horde. The air around him was practically sparkling with magic, and he vaguely registered the rest of his horde backing away. He came to a sudden stillness, reached out and _pulled_.

Thousands of years in the past, Grizzop was celebrating his shot, even as the spears jabbed towards him and he knew it would be the end. He felt a stabbing, awful pain in his leg and dropped down below the spear that would've killed him, staring in shock at a almost familiar dragony claw stuck into his leg. With a pop! he disappeared as Sasha dropped after being swarmed.   
A couple of decades later and Sasha is dying, peacefully and slowly, of old age of all things. She wonders if Grizzop will be waiting for her when she goes, she never did work up to going back to Rome to find him. Just as Sasha is about to take her final breath, surrounded by the family she created in the past, a sharp pain erupts in her arm and she sees a flash of bronze.   
Eldarion gives a sad smile to the group as she watches them disappear. Willing them to get there safely even as she feels the hand of death coming for her. She feels agony around her middle before he can get to her though, and looks into angry molten eyes before being yanked through the universe.


End file.
